Saturday, August 27th, UFC makes their way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for UFC 134. It’s the first time UFC has been to Brazil since October of 1998. Brazil is widely known as the birth place for Mixed Martial Arts as they’ve held their no holds barred Vale Tudo events years before UFC was created. In the 13 years since Ultimate Brazil, the sport of MMA has changed immensely. There are rules and weight classes. Athletes are no longer pure to one form of martial art and the sport itself is more popular than ever.
UFC 134 is headlined by two rematches. The main event features the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, Anderson “The Spider” Silva defending the Middleweight Championship against Yushin Okami. Okami holds a win over the champion back in January of 2006, however that win came as Silva was disqualified for an illegal up kick. If Okami can utilize his strong wrestling skills he can grind out a decision win, but Silva is very good with submissions off his back. Also, anytime the fight is on the feet, the Champion is virtually unstoppable.
In the co-main event, two former Light Heavyweight Champions meet once again as Forrest Griffin takes on Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. In Shogun’s first fight inside the octagon back in September of 2007, he was outworked by Griffin and tapped out via rear naked choke in the closing seconds of the fight. Shogun has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, but is a dangerous competitor when healthy. Griffin has also had a career with ups and downs, but I see him once again out working Shogun and getting another win.
Here’s my predictions for UFC 134
Anderson Silva over Yushin Okami via KO in round 2
Forrest Griffin over Shogun Rua via Unanimous Decision
Brendan Schaub over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via TKO round 2
Edson Barboza over Ross Pearson via submission round 3
Stanislay Nedkov over Luiz Cane via submission round 2
Tiago Tavares over Spence Fisher via Unanimous Decision
Rousimar Palhares over Dan Miller via submission round 2
Paulo Thiago over David Mitchell via TKO round 1
Raphael Assuncao over Johnny Eduardo via submission round 1
Ian Loveland over Yves Jabouin via TKO round 2
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